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Emil Zátopek: a legend from athletics’ golden age of innocence

The Czech runner’s unorthodox style — described as ‘a man wrestling an octopus on a conveyor belt’ — set 18 world records and won him the Triple Crown in 1952

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

Today We Die a Little: The Rise and Fall of Emil Zátopek, Olympic Legend Richard Askwith

Yellow Jersey Press, pp.480, £16.99, ISBN: 9780224100342

Endurance: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Emil Zátopek Rick Broadbent

Wisden Sports Writing, pp.320, £16.99, ISBN: 9781472920225

The story of the Czechoslovak runner Emil Zátopek is a tale from athletics’ age of innocence. Without the aid of qualified coaches, state-of-the-art equipment or ‘performance-enhancing’ drugs, Emil Zátopek set no fewer than 18 world records over distances between 5,000 and 30,000 metres with a style memorably described as that of ‘a man wrestling with an octopus on a conveyor belt’: all eccentricity above the waist, all efficiency below it.

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'Today We Die a Little: The Rise and Fall of Emil Zátopek, Olympic Legend', £15.29 and 'Endurance: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Emil Zátopek', £15.29 are available from the Spectator Bookshop, Tel: 08430 600033

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